Living with China and the United States: Singapore's Manual

Abstract: Amid the intensifying United States-China rivalry, Singapore appears to be one of those states that has managed to keep and sustain an even keel between both sides, maintaining a careful equilibrium that has not led to prohibitive costs in its relations with either power. This piece examines the key pathways and logic behind Singapore's finely calibrated approach toward China and the US. This is an approach based on a gameplan of (1) enmeshing both powers in the regional security order; (2) doubling down on multilateralism to mitigate great power unilateralism; and (3) projecting a "non-Chinese" identity.